Swimsuits through the ages

1902: A man in bathing costume on the beach at La Baule, France. Beard sold separately Photograph: Roger-Viollet/Rex Features

Taking a lesson from the Simon Cowell school of high-waisted fashion, this picture dates from 1934 and shows Johnny Weissmuller, winner of five Olympic gold medals in the 1920s and Tarzan actor Photograph: Snap/Rex Features

It's 1948 and swimwear designers have yet to embrace the concept of a streamlined swimming trunk for American swimmers Eugene Rogers and Bill Dudley at the Empire Pool in Wembley, London, during the Olympic games Photograph: Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive

1967: USA's Mark Spitz who went on to win seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympic games purely by virtue of the go faster stripes on his swimming trunks Photograph: Don Morley/ EMPICS Sport/PA

1978: David Wilkie (gold medal winner in the 200m breaststroke at the Montreal Olympics in 1976) does not have quite enough chest hair to carry this Medallion Man look off and the trunks have reached their smallest point Photograph: Steve Lewis/Rex Features

2000: Paul Palmer, British Olympic swimmer, at the University of Bath swimming pool wearing the controversial Adidas Sharkfin body suit Photograph: Tom Jenkins

2002: Australian Olympic champion freestyle swimmer Ian Thorpe training at the Manchester Aquatic Centre in preparation for the Commonwealth Games Photograph: Christopher Thomond

2004: British Olympic Swimmer Mark Foster models a hi-tech Speedo swimsuit ahead of the Olympics in Athens. It's a good job this suit is used for swimming as no one can really see how revealing it is once you're under water Photograph: Chris Young/PA Archive

2008: France's Alain Bernard in training at the National Aquatics Centre during of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, where he won gold in the 100m freestyle (having ditched the trunks for a full body suit) Never mind the trunks! Didn't the body hair slow him down? Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

2008: Michael Phelps, a 14-time Olympic gold medal winner, in action during the 4x200m Freestyle Relay final in Beijing Photograph: Adam Pretty/Getty Images AsiaPac

2009: Dejan Marjanovic, wearing a Speedo LZR Elite Racer swimsuit starts in the men's 400m freestyle heats at the Swiss Championships Photograph: Patrick B. Kraemer/EPA

2009: German Paul Biedermann, wearing the Arena X-glide suit (which is among those soon to be banned), celebrates after winning gold and beating the world record during the final of the men's 400m freestyle at the World Swimming Championships in Rome this week Photograph: Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images